Page 14 - HOH

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local Wednesday 20 september 2023

Aruban legends: Frenchman’s Pass

(Oranjestad)—If you ever French tried to colonize the known as Frenchman’s Pass, However, since he needed to tell everyone about his
plan on taking a group tour island, but were met with an and there have been many a ride real bad, he didn’t experience. Everyone grew
of the island, you may pass angry mob of indigenous set- accounts of spirits roaming think twice and jumped in. quiet, because they realized
through the Frenchman’s tlers, refusing to give up their the area of Spanish Lagoon. But to his horror, he noticed he wasn’t some drunk mess-
Pass in Balashi. The French- land. However, as the French that the there was no driver ing around; he was telling
man’s pass (known to locals were heavily equipped with There are many ghost sto- in the front. Paralyzed with the truth.
as “Franse Pas”) remains a fire arms, the indigenous set- ries surrounding this area, but fear, he didn’t dare to get
mysterious—and spooky— tlers began to retreat, and one of the most famous one out, and the car started to Sometime later, two men
road of which its legend is hid away in nearby caves. involves a lonely hitchhiker, move. walked into the bar and
told from generation to gen- The French colonizers tried trying to find a ride back one of them noticed the
eration. to smoke them out of the home in the dark rainy night. When approaching a sharp hitchhiker. He called out to
caves, but the indigenous turn, the hitch hiker braced his buddy and said: “Look,
The history of the French- settlers ended up inhaling Sometime after trying to for impact, but just when there’s the idiot who sat in
man’s pass—and how it got too much smoke and most hitchhike, the man saw a car he though the car might our car when we were push-
its name—dates back to the died in those caves. From approaching, appearing drive straight off the road ing it!”
colonization era, when the then on, this passage was almost ghost-like in the rain. and crash, he saw a hand
appear out the window French man’s pass is one of
Helpful tips for your stay on Aruba and turn the wheel. For the the few sites on the island
next few turns, the hand ap-
that keeps the locals on their
peared again. After having toes. While most ghost stories
had enough, the man de- may not have real grounds—
cided to jump out and he or some may even be a set
ran to Santa Cruz. up story for a joke, this pass
contributes a lot to our cul-
Arriving at a nearby bar, he ture of folkloric story-telling.
ordered a drink and began Source: visitaruba.comq

(Oranjestad)—When travel- Electrical power Generally though, most su-
ing to another country, es- Aruba generally operates permarkets are open from
pecially for the first time, it on 110V to 127V supply volt- 8am to 9 or 10pm, Monday
is always better to be over- age and 60Hz. There are also through Saturday. On Sun-
prepared than under-pre- three types of outlets used days, supermarkets gen-
pared. That is why we have on the island: type A with erally close earlier; mostly
a list of basic—but impor- two flat prongs; type B with around 2pm.
tant—information that we two flat and one grounding
think may come in handy prong, and on occasion, Taxis
to Aruba’s visitors. type F with two round prong Prices for taxi fair are set by
and two earth clips on the the Department of Public
Emergency services side. However, Type A is most Traffic and are based on
Even though most people commonly found in homes destination rather than mile-
don’t even want to think and establishments. age. Most taxis can take up
about having to contact to five passengers, but this
emergency services—es- Drinking water may vary depending on
pecially not while on their The water that flows through the vehicle. Taxis are pretty
vacation, it is still important the sinks of every house, ho- much always available and
to know what number to dial tels and other establishments you can ever hire one for $45
in case of the unlikely event is distilled and perfectly safe an hour.
of an accident or severe in- to drink. Aruba’s drinking wa-
cident. ter exceeds WHO’s interna- Safety
tional standards for water Aruba is one of the safest is-
Police: 100 quality, so there is no need lands in the Caribbean, and
Police Tipline: 11141 to buy bottled water from many tourist that visit have
Ambulance: 911 the store. often told us how they feel
Fire Dept: 115 safe to explore the island or
Oranjestad: HOH hospital: Supermarket hours walk around at night. How-
+297-527-4000 Supermarket hours may vary ever, rare incidents do oc-
San Nicolas: ImSan: +297- depending on where you curs, so keep yourself and
527-8833 are staying on the island. your belongings safe. q